Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $7.38 Million Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 98.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 219,380 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 108,600 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $7,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $24.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.28. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.

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